The System
Who Owns the Internet, and How it Owns Us
1st Edition
Published on 20. August 2020
288 pages
978-1-5266-0721-8 (ISBN)
Description
'A fascinating exposé of the world behind your screen. Timely, often disturbing, and so important'
Caroline Criado Perez, author of Invisible Women
'Takes us beyond Zuckerberg, Bezos et al to a murkier world where we discover how everything online works and who benefits from it. Fascinating, engaging and important'
Observer
'Could not be more timely'
Spectator
The internet is a network of physical cables and connections, a web of wires enmeshing the world, linking huge data centres to one another and eventually to us. All are owned by someone, financed by someone, regulated by someone.
We refer to the internet as abstract from reality. By doing so, we obscure where the real power lies.
In this powerful and necessary book, James Ball sets out on a global journey into the inner workings of the system. From the computer scientists to the cable guys, the billionaire investors to the ad men, the intelligence agencies to the regulators, these are the real-life figures powering the internet and pulling the strings of our society.
Ball brilliantly shows how an invention once hailed as a democratising force has concentrated power in places it already existed - that the system, in other words, remains the same as it did before.
Caroline Criado Perez, author of Invisible Women
'Takes us beyond Zuckerberg, Bezos et al to a murkier world where we discover how everything online works and who benefits from it. Fascinating, engaging and important'
Observer
'Could not be more timely'
Spectator
The internet is a network of physical cables and connections, a web of wires enmeshing the world, linking huge data centres to one another and eventually to us. All are owned by someone, financed by someone, regulated by someone.
We refer to the internet as abstract from reality. By doing so, we obscure where the real power lies.
In this powerful and necessary book, James Ball sets out on a global journey into the inner workings of the system. From the computer scientists to the cable guys, the billionaire investors to the ad men, the intelligence agencies to the regulators, these are the real-life figures powering the internet and pulling the strings of our society.
Ball brilliantly shows how an invention once hailed as a democratising force has concentrated power in places it already existed - that the system, in other words, remains the same as it did before.
More details
Edition
1. Auflage
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
ISBN-13
978-1-5266-0721-8 (9781526607218)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
07/2021
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
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Book
08/2020
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
€44.76
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Person
James Ball is the Global Editor of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the author of multiple books, including Post-Truth. He has worked for BuzzFeed, the Guardian and the Washington Post and his reporting projects have won the Pulitzer Prize for public service, the Scripps Howard Prize and the British Journalism Award for investigative reporting, among others.
Content
- Cover
- Half-title Page
- Dedication Page
- Title Page
- Contents
- Introduction
- Part One The Mechanics
- 1 The Architects
- 2 The Cable Guys
- 3 The Custodians
- Part Two The Money
- 4 The Money Men
- 5 The Ad Men
- Part Three The Melee
- 6 The Cyber Warriors
- 7 The Rulemakers
- 8 The Resistance
- Conclusion
- A Note on Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Glossary
- Further Reading
- Notes
- Index
- Copyright Page
